Queen of the Night
by Lady Lore and Demon Dreams
Summary: Two months in Japan with Michel, now Takashi, was enough to make certain her answer to his re-extended offer.


After that night with Ethan, no, Michel, and her final farewell kiss, Kerry never expected to see him again.

Sometimes, she'd allow herself to daydream about the possibilities: what would have happened if she'd said yes, what would happen if they ever saw each other again. She never thought too deeply about it, though. She was more a realist than someone who wasted their thoughts on whimsical fantasies. So she hadn't really of the possibility that going on a 2 month sister school exchange program to Japan would lead her face to face with him.

But she had thought about what this would do to her father, when, after only a month after the kidnapping and her near death experience, she went away for a school quarter. And she had also thought that all she wanted to do was get away from it all, her ordeal, wanted to just recover from the experience, then return with only good memories of Tokyo occupying her mind. And for that reason, her father reluctantly let her go.

However, the two weeks of Winter Vacation allowed his already weak resolve to waver. Any chance of changing minds shrank drastically when a package containing a traveler's English-to-Japanese guide and a female student's uniform finally arrived in the mail five days before Kerry was to leave. While her father attempted to hide his worried feelings, Kerry crash crammed important Japanese into her head, memorizing the difference between the girl's and boys bathroom and where the among the raging city Tokyo tower was located.

When the day came, she and her fellow exchange students boarded an international plane heading to the Tokyo airport on New Year's Eve. They then met with their Japanese school chaperons, who they had met before via video chat, and headed to the grand New Year's Celebration, where they received many gifts, among them traditional Japanese garments called yukatas, which they were helped into, and Japanese yen, which they were given and allowed to wander around the festival to buy things.

It wasn't until later, when people were starting to leave, that Kerry had run into Michel. She saw him first, his hair was shoulder length then, just across from her at a charm vendor speaking sociably to some other guys and a few girls. Right then several things occurred to her: Michel had been studying Japanese so that he would be able to, er, get lost in Japan, and that the reason that he hadn't spoken along with the learning cassette was that he probably already knew Japanese fairly well. It also occurred to her that he had allowed himself to grow, somewhat, trusting of Kerry, because he knew he would be long gone in Japan with or without her, both securing his safety of ever having a run in with one of his many former identities.

With that in mind, she hesitated on whether or not she should do anything. On one side, she couldn't deny that she loved him. Maybe even enough to say yes. On the other, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that he probably had a new identity, and her approaching him without knowing this new identity would either get her killed if his companions were vampires, or obstruct his quest for a death free meal. So she just opted to stare at him for a while, and, when he probably felt her stare, and looked at her, and she saw the look of blatant recognition and surprise on his face, she forced on a cold and creeped out face before his companions saw, and gave a rueful sounding "Konichiwa", which she half choked on, before putting back a charm she had in her hand on a peg and walked, a bit quickly, to her group.

And that was that. Perhaps, if he hadn't been with anyone, she could have greeted him warmly, and talked cordially with him for a while. But he had been in others company, so their brief and incredible encounter was just that, brief and incredible.

Their second encounter was neither brief nor so much incredible rather than repeated surprise at seeing him again.

During school, she with the other exchange students were whisked separately into different classes to learn Japanese. They spent cleaning period, lunch, and gym conversing with the Japanese students, who knew a surprising amount of English, then spent their social studies classes mixed, questioning one another on their cultures. Then, after school, while others went to cram school, they were encouraged to roam the area around their school and hotel to use their language skills in "real world conversation", with a buddy, of course. It was on the second day that she returned to the Hotel early, leaving her buddy with other girls, that Michel stopped the elevator she was in and pressed a floor number she could only conclude as being _his floor in the same hotel as her._ Then he pressed a second floor button, never saying anything to her, that was only a floor above him. Confused, he intertwined his fingers with hers, led her off the elevator they were on and into another, quickly shutting the door, and pressed a totally different floor number.

"So, are you just going to take me elevator riding all around the hotel, like those little kids that press all the buttons on the elevator to piss people off?" She asked him once the doors closed. She hadn't realized what a sweet relief it was to hear his voice.

"Thank you for not revealing anything about our previous _companionship_ with one another to my acquaintances."

"Who were-?" she trailed off.

"Other Vampires. You could say, a kind of final testing of my Japanese. If you hadn't acted so well, you would have had us both in a sticky situation that would have been extremely hard to get out of. Well, I'm hoping it was an act at least, or I would be sad at the thought that I had left you in America with an unknown grudge." He told her. She found that he would either give her incredibly lengthy, and, depending on the question, in a way moving answer, as he was now, or not answer or barely give a vague reply. A quirk, she noted.

"It was an act," she assured him, "I figured whether they were vampires or you next meal. And, where are we going?"

"To talk." A vague answer again.

"Where?"

"My room."

"In the same hotel I'm staying at?"

"Of course, since I followed you here." The elevator doors opened.

"Why!" Kerry demanded as he led her down the hallway.

"More importantly, did you follow me to Japan?" there was an edge in Michel's voice, almost hostility.

"No. I haven't even thought about where you would be. Our school has a school-funded change program with Japan, and I wanted to get away for a while." She explained softly. Regardless any feelings they might have, and she wasn't sure at all of Michel's, she handled such delicate conversations with caution.

"I see," his tone was bland.

"Why did you follow me to my hotel?"

"I wanted to make sure of something." he looked around, and saw a guest coming out of their room. A bit of an elderly man, Kerry saw looking back. "I wanted to make sure you were okay, sister." He didn't want anyone to hear their conversation.

"I'm fine."

"Because of your exchange program, I was worried when you left your buddy that _someone_ might grab you." They reached his room. He led her in first, a bit hastily, and quickly closed the door.

"Or something." He gave her an innocent smile.

"So you weren't quite acting, _Aniki_." she stated, giving just as innocent a smile.

"No," he frowned a bit, "I'm sure we both would prefer if I followed you before anyone else did."

"When did you arrive here?"

"New Year's Eve," Michel sat down to face her on a couch by a large window overlooking the city at night. It was seven, but winter kept the sun down.

They were in one of the penthouse suites, equipped with a bedroom and bathroom, along with a kitchen and a living room/dining room. She didn't doubt that he could afford it.

"How?" she hoped she wasn't prodding too much.

He smiled, she wasn't sure why, "By cruise ship. I left three days from the west coast before coming here." He gesture for her to take a seat, so she sat on a chair across from him

"When was the last time you fed?"

His smile grew faint. "On New Years. Large crowd, some already drunk on sake, you get the point."

"And not since then?"

"You're fine," his smile faded into a reassuring expression, "I would never bite you. Unless, you wanted me to, that is," he added, smiling again.

Kerry grew bashful, "Maybe," she mumbled, "as long as you weren't hungry to the point of losing it and killing me."

"Did I ever do anything horrible to you before?" he pointed out. Hair pulling and a slap weren't horrible, not like how it'd be if she had really been kidnapped.

"No, I suppose not."

"See? I would never hurt you." Michel concluded.

"Then I'll let you." Kerry blushed. The night was taking an unexpected turn. In an instant, he had the chair she was in reclined. She gasped as the support on her back disappeared and she fell onto her back, her feet raised, and Michel hovering above her. He trailed kisses up and down her neck.

"Would you also like to try-"

"No!" she gasped as he hit a sensitive spot. He began licking and kissing the area, having her panting beneath him. Then she could feel teeth against the area nearby, where she assumed her carotid artery was.

"Are you sure-" he hadn't pierced her skin yet.

"Yes."

"that you want to continue with this?" he finished.

"Yes." she breathed, though she was feeling a bit unsure.

It wasn't at all like getting a shot or having her blood drawn, both unpleasant feelings. More of a bit of stinging as he initially bit into her, then warmth began to flood from where his mouth was to ever where in her body. She understood how sex might be promoted by such an action.

She glanced over to a clock nearby. 9:24. "I have to get to my room by 11."

Michel removed himself from her neck and also checked the time, which had changed to 9:25.

"An hours and 35 minutes" he mumbled, bent down his head to suck up the blood that was about to spill on her collar. He licked the where he'd punctured her skin and sat up straight.

"What do you want to do in the mean time?" he asked, one hand caressing her cheek, the other inching up her leg towards the hem of her skirt.

"Are you just going ditch me like guys do after they get the sex they want?" she mock glared at him.

An amused smile lit his face. "That's stupid. There's always more from the same girl."

"And if I said no to all but your first request?" she truly glared at him.

He kept smiling, "Then my next goal would be to convince you to become a vampire."

"In the end, I only see you ditching me after I become worthless or you get some kick out of taking away my former life."

"I wouldn't do that!" Michel growled fiercely. It shocked Kerry a bit.

"You would. You'd have to, to maintain your cover." she mumbled, not looking at him.

"Not unless you came with me. You might not even have to become a vampire."

"How long will you be in Japan?" she digressed.

"How long will you?" he countered.

"Until the 26th. Of February" she elaborated.

"Two months. A long time," he mused. Then he sighed, "Then I'll stay two months until you make your decision."

"A long time for a vampire, I'm guessing?"

"Well, until then, have you had Japanese strawberry spongecake? I hear it's incredible." Michel gave her a large smile.

"Uh-huh," Kerry rolled her eyes, "No, I haven't."


End file.
